Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Review: Sweet Summer Sweat by Clare London

Title ~ Sweet Summer Sweat

Author ~ Clare London

Publisher ~ Jocular Press

Published ~ 18th September 2016

Genre ~ M/M/M Erotic Romance, Paranormal

Rating

Synopsis

When you find a place where lust and sex rule life, and your every desire can be fulfilled, why would you ever want to leave?Young runaway Scot and his boyfriend Jerry escape their deadbeat homes and families, hoping to leave prejudice behind them and travel to a new life in Las Vegas. Unprepared and naive, they're lost almost at once, and shelter at a run-down, deserted motel in the middle of the scorching hot Nevada desert. A place with secrets, run by staff both gorgeous and uninhibited, and driven by a mysterious sexual connection Scot’s never even dared to dream.All but drugged by the lazy heat and the hedonism around him, Scot watches as Jerry is seduced away and realizes their relationship was nothing more than shared lust. Restless, Scot knows he wants true love and real understanding. Could he find it with the mysterious and elusive owner of the motel, Connor Maxwell? Connor seems to think so, every time he appears and pursues Scot for his own. But where does Connor come from? It seems the passion calls him into being at its own whim.Eventually, what binds Connor and his friends to the motel may be too strong for Scot to break through. Scot has ambitions to travel, to make something of his life – but is his only option to embrace life at the motel in his true lover’s arms?Or will that love be strong enough to release them both …

Freya’s Review

The blurb for this book is rather lustful and made me hot under the collar. Like having a movie for every mood, it’s only good practice to have a book for each occasion too. After all, there’s nothing wrong with having a bit of raunch in one’s life.

Jerry and Scot leave their lives behind because not knowing what else awaits them is better than what they had to endure at home. Across the Arizona Desert, they happen upon a motel. Tired, dusty and hungry, they pull in. They discover it’s a place where erotica rules. Inhibitions go out of the window, and the boys are sucked into a world of strange happenings.

On the face of it, Sweet Summer Sweat is filled with cover to cover sex, but there is an undertone of something extra.

The story is told in the present tense from Scot’s POV. But (and I suspect this is by design), odd bits from additional characters seep in. Scot can feel and hear what others are doing. He knows the people, too, as the motel isn’t host to a coach load of guests. In fact, there are only three staff, Scot, and Jerry.

Given the nature of the story, some of the conventions concerning do’s and don’ts in writing can’t be followed. Like body parts seemingly having a mind of their own, because at the time, it’s not clear whose mind one is looking through. However, a few habits did surface. Overuse of some words like just, still, very, but, and yet – they came in flurries. And there are some passive gestures that I felt would have been better as active ones. There was also the odd bit of wording that, regardless of tense, wasn’t necessary, e.g., ‘His cock was almost fully hard, now.’ – It’s been recognised that the story is in the present tense, so the addition of ‘now’ is superfluous to the sentence. Also - ‘Above them all, the sky was a broken blue….’ – Earlier in the paragraph, their outside location was established. Therefore, in my opinion ‘all’ is surplus as the sky is above everyone, it’s not selective – ‘them’ covers it. There were little things like these that the beta in me hiccupped on.

Maxwell’s Motel - Is it a place from imagination, a fantasy land, God, aliens, other worldly? The word seemed crops up a lot, which kept me guessing over what realm the motel belonged. There is an element of fantasy since there is a great deal of ICR (Instant Cock Resurrection). One thing for sure is that, within the confines of the motel, there is a representation of life.

I understand that ten people reading a book can have ten differing interpretations of said prose. Here’s mine. The author uses sex to show the distractions of life and where they can lead – and what a distraction. There are few things that can have such a world-changing effect.

For a while, it is wonderful to immerse oneself into a world of lust and fantasy. And at Maxwell’s Motel, the erotic skilfully satisfies the majority of urges. But at the end of the day, there is more to love than sex - more to life than sex. Some people are content with their lot and stay, happy in the bubble they’ve created, others are unhappy with life, but are scared to try something else. The courageous go out there and find the life they want.

Scot and Jerry have to wade through influence and distraction to make those choices.

Sweet Summer Sweat has a Twin Peaks feel about it. Words uttered have double meanings, or hidden meanings and what seems to be isn’t necessarily so.

I once read an anthology that claimed it was the most erotic – Sweet Summer Sweat beats it by a mile. Read a chapter of this story and you’ll be pinning your partner to the mattress or taking matters into your own hands. Yes, it’s that hot. But, there is more to this story than sex. Everyone has a journey in life, and it’s a case of having the balls to hit the road and who you take along with you.

Purchase Links

Meet Clare London

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.

All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!